44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 29, 2022 10:00AM
- Sep/29/22 2:39:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, quite regularly, when I ask questions in this place, it is typical for a Liberal member to mansplain me and tell me what I need to do.
Despite imposing a costly carbon tax on Canadians, the Liberals have failed to meet every single climate target that they set. The Liberal carbon tax has done and will do nothing for the environment. The only achievement of their carbon tax has been to drive up the cost of living and make basic necessities unaffordable. It is more than just inflation soaring. Canadians simply cannot afford the Liberal government.
If the Prime Minister cares about affordability, will he cancel tripling the carbon tax?
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- Sep/29/22 2:39:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if Conservatives cared about affordability, they would have voted in favour of the unanimous consent motion yesterday that would have seen hundreds of thousands of Canadians with disabilities lifted out of poverty by moving forward with the Canada disability benefit. If they cared about lifting people out of poverty and making life more affordable, they would help kids with disabilities have access to dental care, and if they wanted to make life more affordable for low-income Canadians with disabilities, they would vote for rent help.
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- Sep/29/22 2:40:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all the human trafficking going on at Roxham Road would disappear immediately if the federal government suspended the safe third country agreement. However, the minister is doing exactly the opposite. He is expanding it. He is building a city.
Radio‑Canada recently reported that the federal government is not suspending the agreement, but rather expanding its facilities in response to the record number of asylum seekers this year. The government is set to open a new complex on November 1, and it will stay open until 2026.
How much longer does it plan to help human smugglers expand their business operations at Roxham Road?
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- Sep/29/22 2:41:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times now, we had a very solid agreement with the United States to work together on this very complex issue.
There are pressures at Roxham Road. That is why we continue to work with the Government of Quebec. We are investing in additional resources at the Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP.
We have to recognize that there is no one solution to this issue. We must continue to work together.
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- Sep/29/22 2:41:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Public Safety said that he was very proud of the work the government is doing to protect the rights of refugees at Roxham Road.
What is he proud of? Is he proud that families are being exploited by criminal human smugglers and that it is costing them $10,000 a head? Is that a good price? Is he proud that these families are being welcomed to Canada by the police? Is he proud that their applications take years to be processed?
Of all the things I just mentioned, which part is the minister most proud of?
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- Sep/29/22 2:42:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of the refugees who are continuing to do their part on the front lines. I am proud of the refugees who are helping to alleviate the labour shortage, not just in Quebec, but across Canada. There are plenty of examples of positive contributions made by refugees.
We will continue to invest in the necessary resources to resolve the situation at Roxham Road. The Bloc Québécois needs to stop complaining in the House and start coming up with real solutions. That is how we can work together.
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- Sep/29/22 2:42:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have only been telling them for three years now to suspend the safe third country agreement. If that is not a solution, I do not know what is.
Let us talk about the negotiations with the U.S. They have been going on for a long time. This was in the Liberals' 2019 electoral platform. They said they would continue to work with the United States to modernize the safe third country agreement. At this point, we are entitled to wonder if it is actually being discussed.
Meanwhile, the federal government is opening new facilities at Roxham Road.
When will the government suspend the safe third country agreement instead of holding ribbon-cutting ceremonies at Roxham Road?
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- Sep/29/22 2:43:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we make it our duty to protect Canadians and secure our borders. At the same time, asylum seekers must be treated with compassion, and they have a right to due process.
The safe third country agreement is an important bilateral tool for handling asylum claims at Canada's land border. We are in constant contact with the U.S. government on issues related to our shared border, including the safe third country agreement.
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- Sep/29/22 2:44:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the finance minister may want to consult the Government of Canada's financial literacy website. The section called “Tax basics” lists the types of taxes Canadians pay: income tax, GST and, yes, the federal payroll taxes of EI and CPP. Despite the finance minister's protests, her own website clearly states that these are taxes.
Any tax hike, including raising payroll taxes, only serves one purpose: to take money out of the pockets of Canadians.
Will the Prime Minister cancel his planned tax increases on Canadian paycheques?
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- Sep/29/22 2:44:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite just said that our CPP and EI contributions only serve the purpose of taking money out of the pockets of Canadians. Let us think about that for a minute. That is absolutely reckless. We contribute to the CPP so our seniors can have pensions when they retire. Not everyone is a member of Parliament. Not everyone has the pension that the members opposite and members on this side of the aisle enjoy. We need to be responsible. Canadians rely on their pensions.
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- Sep/29/22 2:45:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, thanks to “Justinflation”, northerners' paycheques are already running out before the end of the month.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Sep/29/22 2:45:42 p.m.
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I am sorry, but I am going to have to interrupt. That is being dragged out a little too much. It is doing indirectly what you cannot do directly, so I want to remind hon. members to try to keep some decorum in the chamber and not mock each other. It is just not parliamentary.
The hon. member will please continue.
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- Sep/29/22 2:46:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, thanks to inflation, northerners' paycheques are already running out before the end of the month. Food prices have increased. Gas prices are through the roof. Heating costs are skyrocketing. Housing projects have been cancelled due to massively increased construction costs. Now, instead of providing relief for northerners, the current Prime Minister is planning to increase paycheque taxes.
Will the Prime Minister answer my question? Will he cancel his planned paycheque tax increases, yes or no?
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- Sep/29/22 2:46:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for the question, because if there is one thing for certain that we have done it is to be there for the people in northern Canada. During COVID when we knew there was a crisis around food and heat security, one of the first things we did was step up to provide the extra resources they needed in each of their communities to get them through that process. We have been there for them through COVID. We have been there for them before that, and we will be there for them today and tomorrow.
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- Sep/29/22 2:47:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister answers every question with mock bewilderment that we dare question her record levels of spending and the increasing taxes to pay for them. She seems obsessed with Stephen Harper, whose record is clear: In 2015, just seven years after a global economic meltdown, the Liberals inherited a balanced budget.
Our Conservative government had lowered virtually every tax that Canadians could pay and Canada's middle class had become the richest in the world. How things have changed.
Could the minister tell us if Canada's growing affordability crisis is due to just inflation or is it just incompetence?
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- Sep/29/22 2:48:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that Canada is pursuing a fiscally responsible policy. We have the lowest deficit in the G7. We have the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio and our AAA credit rating was reaffirmed this year. Canadians also know that we need to be compassionate and support our neighbours with affordability. Finally, they know that now is not the time to eviscerate our pensions and eviscerate our EI.
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- Sep/29/22 2:48:39 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, indigenous communities deserve justice and a chance to heal from the legacy of residential schools. The government promised $200 million in funding for burial site searches but has delivered less than half of that money. It is shameful that the government is denying indigenous communities the funding needed to search for their lost children and for vital mental health supports.
When will the government provide the funding indigenous communities were promised to bring these children home?
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- Sep/29/22 2:49:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned two days ago, 91 projects are under way in communities, to a total of about $100 million. The vast majority of people who have applied to our department have been funded for the first two years of their projects. We will be with them for the complete trajectory of where they will need to do searches, which may be well over five to 10 years. It is something that we will keep doing and keep investing in as communities approach us.
There is much more work to do, indeed, but clearly there is more money to come and this is only a small snapshot of the investments, particularly into mental health, that have been put into communities. Only part of my department does—
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- Sep/29/22 2:50:02 p.m.
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The hon. member for Edmonton Griesbach.
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- Sep/29/22 2:50:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, indigenous people in my riding of Edmonton Griesbach and across Canada are overrepresented in the houseless population. The ones who do have housing live in overcrowded homes or homes in dire need of repair.
Today, the Parliamentary Budget Officer reported that homes are now 67% more expensive than what the average Canadian can afford. The government is failing to help indigenous people, who have been hit hard by the housing crisis. Before the next budget, will the Liberals fully fund the “for indigenous, by indigenous” housing initiative that the government promised?
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